Tuesday, June 30, 2009

UPDATED) Until recently, Pandora accepted music from indie artists at no cost in almost any form including home burned CD-R's. But now, in part because of a deal to display album cover art via Amazon's servers, submissions must be available as a physical CD for sale on Amazon and include cover art and a UPC code to even be considered for airplay.

Compliance with the new rules will cost artists in several ways. According to its FAQ page, to get play on Pandora you now need:

* Cd many a CD of your music * a unique UPC code for that CD * your CD to be available through Amazon (must be a physical CD, not just MP3s for download) * the legal rights to your music * MP3 files for two of the songs from your CD * free Pandora account, based on a valid email address, which can be associated with your music

In addition to art and packaging costs, Pandora explains that to comply with the new "available through Amazon" rule, indie artists should join the Amazon Advantage Program. Membership costs $29.95 each year plus Amazon takes 55% of the list price of every CD sold.

Established artists and labels already comply with Pandora's new rules. But for an indie artist trying to win new fans with a little help from Pandora and to keep his hard earned cash by selling direct, the new threshold may shut off an important avenue for exposure.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

SoundCon, LLC announces the launch of GameSoundCon, the first of its kind game music and sound conference for the professional audio community. GameSoundCon is an intensive two-day seminar for composers, sound designers and other audio professionals, teaching the unique creative, technical and business challenges essential to work in the game music and game sound industry.

“More people are playing video games than going out to the movies,” said Brian Schmidt, Conference Director and President of SoundCon LLC. “Although many schools teach music composition and sound design, few teach the additional skills needed to create music and sounds for interactive video games. GameSoundCon attendees will learn the information critical for success in the multi-billion dollar games industry.”

GameSoundCon’s sessions and panels feature some of the biggest names in the video game industry ensuring an unparalleled experience, and provide attendees an opportunity to meet and talk with the leaders in the field.

GameSoundCon’s inaugural event will be held in on September 24 and 25 in Los Angeles, CA, at the Hyatt Regency Century City. The second GameSoundCon for 2009 will be held on November 13 and 14 in San Francisco, CA, at Pyramind Studios.

Sunday, June 14, 2009

The results for the Wendy's Tri are posted. I have a few questions about their validity but we'll go with results as posted.

(First - there's some questionable times/places represented on the overall list. For instance, someone whose swim time is logged as "blank", rode at 19.9mph and ran a 9:11 mile is third overall? I don't think so. There's at least one more questionable time)

Swim - long wait times between waves. I'm ok with that though, thinned out the crowds and made for an easier swim.

I had thought this swim through last night laying in bed, so I was mentally prepared. My plan was to count strokes to 200. Take them nice and easy and take as many breaths as I needed - really without regard to racing. I wanted to avoid any sense of stress or panic and that's exactly how it went down. I think I got to about 150 and felt great. On one breath, I gulped a ton of water when I was supposed to be breathing air due to a splashy swimmer next to me, but one stroke of breaststroke and I was back underway.

Once I settled in, I was able to concentrate on my stroke, on breathing, pulling, reaching - all of the necessary items for a good swim. My sighting went well and I feel I swam a pretty good line, especially for as little pool time as I've put in.

Improvements: 1) Getting over the first race hurdle without any stress or panic is huge.2) More time in the pool. This is tricky cos I'm usually training for longer swims, not shorter sprints.

T1 - getting a wetsuit off my ankles never goes easy. sigh. I had mentally planned T1 when I set up and that worked really for me. Helmet, glasses, socks - shoes were already on the bike.

Bike - I really felt I put everything in to this bike. I got passed by about six riders, otherwise, I was passing a lot. Nice rollers, no huge hills. Two very touchy turns though. I scrapped a pedal on one and felt my back tire skid on another. Whew!

I had not ridden this course before, so I didn't really know what to expect. I don't think I really left anything out on the course.

Rank on bike: 46/415Bike Time: 52:35Avg MPH: 21.2

T2 - I thought this went well. Shoes were left on the bike, speed laces were in my running shoes but not until late last night.

Run - Obviously to me, this is my weak link. Where I can push and grind and burn my legs on the bike, I'm just not at a point where I can send my body into overload on the run. The run starts with a several hundred yard run on pavement before it heads onto the grass and into the woods. I quite enjoyed this trail running. Sharp turns, rolling gradient - makes for an interesting run at least. This didn't last long though as the run pops out on the Alum Creek dam, for the rest of the out and back. Seeing the first mile marker sign was pretty uplifting. I had just got my legs feeling normal, so I know I was able to push just a little bit. My half marathon pace is over a minute slower. Hm? I caught up with COTT Pres. Stephanie on the run. Didn't have much to say so I know I was running at least fairly hard. Also caught someone in my age group andRank on run portion- 118/412Run time 25:23Pace: 8:12

Improvements: My routine is to settle in for a comfortable run, rather than pushing my heart rate, pushing my lactate threshold.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Bike Snob NYC: "education is the only industry in which consumers actually prefer shoddy merchandise. In other words, the easier the class, the happier students are-even though they're supposed to be learning, and even though they're often paying top dollar to do so."

Commandments 1. Thou Shalt Blog (like crazy)Blog. Please. That's the first priority. Set up a blog, a personal blog, a business blog. It's easier than you think. Use an existing blogging site such as Blogger.com or GOingOn.com or install your own branded blogging site right on your own server by using WordPress. And, WordPress is free.

Commandments 2. Thou Shalt Create Profiles (everywhere)Create your profiles; do it now before someone else takes them. Once they are gone, they are gone forever. That's called cyber squatting. So get out there. Use Open Social to make filling in your profiles as easy as a click of a button.

Commandments 3. Thou Shalt Upload Photos (lots of them)Upload photographs. You've got them. Don't upload the one with you with a lampshade on your head…counterproductive; but other photographs? Absolutely. Customers want to see and participate. You want to give people a face to go with your company.

Commandments 5. Thou Shalt Podcast (often)Podcast. If you're too cheap to get a camera, use the free audio software that's in your computer. That's what I did. I created 48 audio podcasts. If you take the podcasts I did for my book and played them back-to-back, they run 24 continuous hours of interviews. You can do that. It's free. It just takes time.

Commandments 6. Thou Shalt Set Alerts (immediately)Set alerts. People are talking about you. You probably need to know what they are saying and you want to participate.

Commandments 7. Thou Shalt Comment (on a multitude of blogs)Comment. Commenting is like going to a cocktail party. You wouldn't walk into a networking event, walk up to a group of people talking, and tell them your name and what you do in your business. That would be rude and unacceptable. Listen first. Read the blogs and add comments. You can be controversial, that's okay. But participate. Get involved.

Commandments 8. Thou Shalt Get Connected (with everyone)Get LinkedIn. Put it in your email that you have a LinkedIn account, you have a FaceBook account, and that you have a Twitter account. Make it a part of your heading on your letterhead, because that's how you propagate. That's how you sell it.

Commandments 9. Thou Shalt Explore Social Media (30 minutes per week)Explore social media. Give me thirty minutes a week, that's all I'm asking. Friday morning grab your coffee, lock yourself in your office, and give me thirty minutes. Just Google something. I promise you within the first 30 days you will be excited. You'll be as excited as I am. You will get excited because of the ROI.

Commandments 10. Thou Shalt Be Creative (go forth and create creatively)And the most important commandment is creativity. That's all. It's just creativity and having fun. But you know what, that's what your customers want. They want to see transparency. They want to see authenticity. They want to see you having fun. They want to be able to relate and communicate.

Read more of Lon Safko's Social Media Bible blog

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Lon Safko is the co-author of The Social Media Bible: Tactics, Tools, and Strategies For Business Success. He is also an innovator and professional speaker with over 20 years of experience in entrepreneurship, marketing, sales, strategic partnering, speaking, training, writing, and e-commerce. He is the founder of eight successful companies, including Paper Models, Inc.